


Three's Company

by Ninke_A, quiiiznak



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Birthdays, Insecure Lance, M/M, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Pining Shiro (Voltron), reading disability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-28 19:14:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11424369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninke_A/pseuds/Ninke_A, https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiiiznak/pseuds/quiiiznak
Summary: The weeks leading up to Lance's birthday were certainly strange... Really it was all Coran's fault.. And Slav. It was definitely Slav's fault.Or, Who says age is only a number





	Three's Company

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HoddieMaine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HoddieMaine/gifts).



> #RIPHOLLY!!
> 
> We wrote this in honor of Both Lance's Upcoming Birthday and For a very very very, dear friend of ours. We love you Holly!!!

The training deck was powered down and dark, save for the area illuminated where the paladins stood in a line in front of Coran. They already had their armor on, thanks to Allura’s morning drill, but Coran just kept studying each of them. Not even Shiro, was sure what this surprise training session was about. Coran wasn’t often in charge of their training, generally only supervising things like the maze or when they used the bonding helmets. Allura liked to be as involved as possible for the fighting simulations, occasionally suiting up herself to throw them all around the room. 

 

“Alright Paladins,” Coran walked back and forth in front of everyone; “Now, for this particular exercise, I need you all in order according to your ‘earth years’-”

“You mean our age?” Shiro interrupted.

“Ah, Yes, my boy.” Coran motioned for Shiro to move to the left, so he was in the front of the line; next he motioned for Keith to move forward but as Keith stepped forward he was interrupted yet again.

“Uh,” Pidge shook their head. “Keith isn’t next; Lance is.” 

“What?” Keith swiveled around to look back at Lance.

Lance, who had been oddly quiet all morning, beamed at them and shuffled over to take his place in line. 

Keith was shaking his head. “Nope. Sorry, but Lance definitely isn’t oldest after Shiro.” He looked around at everyone but they were all silent. “I mean, come on! The only time I ever saw him was when he was walking into that one Freshman English class.” He paused again, “How can he be older than me when he was an entire grade under us? Wait? How old are you Hunk?”

Pidge cleared their throat. “According to your Garrison files, Hunk is exactly nine days older than you are Keith, and Lance is five months and seventeen days older than Hunk.” They raised their head. “Just eight months younger than my brother.”

“It should bother me that you’ve memorized all our info… But it’s also… weirdly cool?” Lance shrugged before shooting Keith a grin. “And I thought you didn’t remember me?”

Keith spluttered, “What! I -” 

Coran sighed as he rubbed his temples, then attempted to regain their attention before it became even more scattered. “As fascinating as this is… Hunk, if you would be so kind as to step next to Lance, that way we could -” It seemed that Coran was destined not to actually complete a sentence as he was interrupted yet again. 

“No!” Keith pointed between Hunk and Pidge, “This was supposed to be a serious training exercise! Stop messing around and just get in line so we can get started!”

Everyone was silent after Keith’s outburst.

Shiro sighed as he walked up to Keith and put his hand on his shoulder. “Hey, take a deep breath; you need to calm down. What’s gotten into you? Why has this got you so upset?”

“It’s just,” Keith paused to run his hands through his hair, “look, we - I just wanna get through this so we can worry about more important things.” He looked back at Lance, Hunk, and Pidge. “Besides,” he continued, “you three are always playing jokes on me, and I’m just tired of it. So, can we  _ please _ just get on with it?”

Hunk opened his mouth, but Lance shook his head. “Drop it, Hunk. If it makes Keith feel better, then he can go. I don’t even care anymore.” He took a couple of large steps backwards and then turned his head to face the wall. 

Hunk didn’t look very happy, but he kept quiet, and moved to stand behind Lance. 

Pidge however, didn’t appreciate the slight. “You know, for us always playing jokes on you, Hunk sure didn’t say anything just now. In fact, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Lance didn’t either. Then you go and bring up something embarrassing to Lance and blame us for it.” Pidge stomped past, and stood next to Hunk. “Well, didn’t you want to get on with it?” 

Keith at least, had the decency to look embarrassed. He started to say something but was cut off by Allura.

“Paladins, please. Now is not the time for this.”

“The princess is right, we need to get through this training and then, after the fact, we can worry about any personal issues we might have with each other. Good?” Shiro made eye contact with the other paladins before he moved over to where Coran had originally placed him; not before he whispered to Keith, “You need to make time to apologize to Lance sometime today. That’s an order.”

“Yes, sir.” Keith replied, with his head down.

 

***

 

It was after training, after they had all showered and separated to go their own ways, that Keith remembered he had promised Shiro he would apologize to Lance. Keith sighed as he finished toweling his hair dry; he threw the towel on the floor as he palmed the lock on his door to let him into the hallway. he looked down the hallway before his eyes fell on Lance's door. He steeled himself as he walked over and knocked before he could give himself the chance to change his mind.    
  
He was still thinking over what he was going to say when the door whooshed open.    
  
"What do you want mullet?"   
  
"I wan-" Keith gulped and started over, "I wanted to apologize for how I acted earlier during training. I -"   
  
Keith bristled as he was cut short as Lance raised his hand to silence him.    
  
"Look, just drop it alright?"    
  
For as angrily as Lance had opened his door, it seemed to all seep away from him at once; Keith couldn't help but notice how tired he looked.    
  
"Just forget it even happened. Okay? Please?"   
  
"Uh No? Yeah! - I mean, yeah." Keith frowned and shook his head only slightly embarrassed at his fumble. "Uh -"   
  
Lance sighed, effectively cutting through Keith's reply yet again. He backed up into his room without saying else, leaving Keith out in the hallway to stare at his closed door with a bewildered expression; still not entirely too sure what caused Lance to become upset in the first place. 

  
  


***

 

The next time the issue of age came up was only a week later. 

Hunk, Pidge and Lance were gathered around one of the tables in the common area, working on their Altean. Allura had insisted that all of them work on picking up the language so that they could better understand some of the instructions and tactics the castle had. 

Lance actually picked up on the speaking part better than anyone, but did very badly at the reading part. Since Hunk and Pidge were better at reading than speaking the three had been studying together, like they used to at the Garrison. It became very common to see the three of them gathered around a book at various times during the day. 

It was Allura that ended up mentioning it. She liked being heavily involved in the training of her team and felt that included their language studies as well. The princess would often pop in and either praise or criticize depending on how they had been doing. It was easier to find a flaw than a positive, but she had been making a point lately to find something to praise. 

When Allura found the three paladins bent over their data pads, she thought it was a perfect opportunity to mention a couple of things, not realizing that Shiro and Keith were also in the room. “Ah, Hunk. Pidge.” She smiled warmly, hand clasped at her waist. “I really have to say that you both are making good strides in learning my language. While your verbal speaking is a bit below the others, and something that you should be working on, your reading abilities have grown dramatically in a very short amount of time.” She beamed at them and then turned to Lance. 

Lance, who gestured for her to wait just a tick, while he congratulated both of his friends. It had taken a long time for Allura to understand that it was important for the team to congratulate and praise each other. Now though, she understood that it was another way for them to bond. 

She waited until Lance was done, then offered a smile. “Lance.. I must say.. I am a bit disappointed in your reading level. I am sorry to say this, but yours is the lowest of the rest of the team. Please, you must work hard at it, yes? However, I can also very proudly state that you have the highest speaking ability in your team. It must be due to your age, yes? Is it easier for Humans to learn to speak other languages the older they are?” 

Lance shifted in his seat, slightly uncomfortable. “Ah, well...”

Pidge interrupted then, “Actually, it’s much easier for us to learn things such as languages when we are younger. Lance, however, has an ear for them and picks up speaking them quickly.” Pidge adjusted their glasses. “I am not good with languages, so I will never learn to speak them as quickly as Hunk or Lance. But, I am good at remembering symbols so that’s why my writing is better.”

Hunk, glanced over toward Keith and Shiro, then spun back around, nodding. “Yeah, don’t worry, Allura. Lance is helping us speak it better and we are helping him read…” 

Allura beamed, “Excellent! Well done then, my paladins!” She clapped her hands together and left. 

 

As the door slid shut behind Allura, Shiro looked up from his data pad only to notice Keith trying, and failing to subtly watch the others.    
  
"Keith?"   
  
"Hm?"   
  
"What's wrong?"   
  
Eyes darting between Shiro and the others, Keith sighed as he switched off his data pad and placed it face down on the desk.    
  
"So, you know how you told me to apologize to Lance after training last week?"   
  
Shiro hummed his assent and motioned for Keith to continue.    
  
Keith lowered his voice to a whisper, forcing Shiro to lean closer.    
  
"Well, I did and it just - ugh. Lance made it so weird? Like - he was pissed at me, and I get it now that he had every right to be; but then he just? I don't know. He seemed sad?" Keith put his head in his hands and tugged at his hair.    
  
Shiro glanced behind him to make sure the others were still huddled together before sliding around the table closer towards Keith. He put his hand on Keith's shoulder. 

“Try not to push him too hard, alright? Just - if he brings it up again, try to take it easy on him? I know you’s have that whole “rivalry” thing going on but you don't know what caused Lance to react the way he did. Alright?”

Keith hummed and took his hands out of his hair. 

“I guess…”

“Great! Now let’s go train!” Shiro clapped him on the back as he rose, “I’ll meet you at the training deck in a few ticks, and then we can -”

“Ah! Shiro! Just the paladin I was looking for!” 

Shiro groaned as Slav grabbed onto his arm and led him out into the hallway.

Keith chuckled as he waved to Shiro, “I’ll be waiting at the training deck for you!”

The doors whooshed shut as Slav continued to ramble on about his newest invention. 

 

***   
  


Pidge shoved their glasses up, and rubbed at the bridge of their nose. It was late and even they were getting tired. But, there was one last thing that they needed to do before they could go rest. That thing being Keith; he had been hovering around all day, and despite asking, politely for them, he still hadn’t gotten around to telling. So now, in the dark of the castle, and with no one else around, they finally called out to the presence lurking in their workshop door. 

“Keith, I know you’re there, so just get in here and tell me what you want to say.” 

Pidge leaned back, letting their glasses fall to their usual place on their nose and slowly spun their chair around. Pidge casually pressed their fingertips together and tapped them against their mouth. Sure enough, there was Keith, just outside of the door, and Pidge hid their grin behind their fingers. 

Keith frowned but came completely into the room, dropping down onto the small free space on the floor. 

“How did you know I was out there?” 

Pidge scoffed. “Hunk and Lance helped me set up sensors around my workshop doors so I know if anyone is messing with my projects.”

They leaned forward a bit, fixing Keith with a flat stare. “Now, what do you want to ask me.” 

Keith rolled his eyes, but gave in. It was useless to try and con Pidge. 

“I just.. wanted to know what Lance’s deal is,” he shrugged. “I mean, I know I was out of line last week… But I did apologize.” He bristled a bit at Pidge’s glare. “I did! But he was weird and just told me to forget it.” 

“Did you think maybe you should have?” 

Keith sighed. “Yes, but.. He did the same thing yesterday when Allura was talking about his reading. He had the same look on his face.” 

Pidge didn’t say anything, and kept their gaze steady. They could see why he was asking, but Pidge wasn’t really sure if they should say anything. Pidge sighed, and pinched the bridge of their nose; Keith would keep asking and if he just bluntly brought it up to Lance then they would likely get into another fight that would end with Lance curled up to Hunk again. Pidge absolutely did not want that. 

“Okay, listen up. I’m only going to tell you this once.” They leaned in a bit more, glaring now. “Lance grew up speaking Spanish. He didn’t actually learn English until right before he went to the Garrison. He can learn to speak languages fine, but reading and writing them is much harder. That’s why he didn’t do so well in his classes. That’s why you saw him in those freshman classes. That’s why he isn’t a grade higher than us like anyone his age should be.” 

Keith stared. “Pidge…” 

“I’m not done.” 

They watched as Keith’s mouth snapped shut. “He can’t always understand the words. He will never be able to read or write as well as the rest of us. Do you know how many nights the three of us stayed up until dawn just so Lance could pass his classes? It wasn’t that he didn’t know the material, he didn’t understand the words on the tests.” 

“I…I didn’t know.” 

“I’m aware.” Pidge leaned back again, the light glinting off their glasses. “But, you do now, and do  _ not _ bring it up unless he does. I’m not going to watch him spend another night crying on Hunk because he thinks he’s dragging the team down. I. Will. Not. Do you understand?” 

Keith nodded. Pidge was tiny but they were also terrifying. 

Pidge nodded, satisfied, and waved a hand at Keith. “Oh, one more thing. His birthday is in two weeks. We’re throwing him a little party. Hunk already got Allura to agree and Coran is making a banner for him with the mice.” Their voice softened a bit, “It would mean a lot to him, if you and Shiro showed up for it.” They abruptly turned their chair back around, absently poking at the computer. They hadn’t planned on encouraging that, but Lance did almost anything Pidge ever asked him to. Besides, they were tired of seeing Lance pine all over the place, and they had a bet with Hunk to win. 

 

***

 

Shiro sighed as he toweled off his hair. He had trained hard with Keith and had pushed himself even harder after Keith had left. He was tired, rightfully so and lost in thought. Lost in thought over his teammates - especially Lance. He was still trying to figure out why Lance had reacted the way that he had when questioned about his age; trying, and failing to imagine a scenario where Lance’s outburst seemed appropriate. Shiro ran his towel over his hair, fluffing it up, and sighed again. He didn't like when his team didn't get along. 

He wasn't paying attention as he walked from the communal showers towards his room, so he didn't notice Hunk until after he walked headfirst into him.    
  
"Woah!" Hunk grabbed him by the shoulder, steadying him. "Hey, you alright there, Shiro?"   
  
"Hunk! Yes I - yeah! I'm fine; sorry about that."    
  
Shiro sidestepped to walk around Hunk but moved with him, blocking the way again.    
  
"Uhm, Hunk?"   
  
"Yeah?"   
  
"Is there any particular reason you're not letting me pass?"   
  
"Oh! Yeah! I - uh, actually wanted to talk to you about Lance? I overheard you and Keith talking earlier after Allura left.” Hunk started to mumble, “oh man, Pidge’s gonna kill me if they find out…”

“Find out what?” Shiro moved towards Hunk. 

“Ah! Uhm,” Hunk brought his hand up to scratch the back of his neck. Taking a deep breath, he started over. “Here's the thing - Lance gets really defensive over his age?”

Shiro hummed his assent as Hunk continued. 

“As I'm sure you've seen. It's just - and it's really not my place to tell you this but I feel like you should know. Lance struggled a lot at the Garrison; Iverson put Lance in remedial freshman classes and it crushed him. Pidge and I spent so many long nights trying to help Lance get his grades up, and it's not that he's not smart! He is! It's just that Spanish was his first language; he didn't have anyone at home to really teach him any English but he picked up speaking it pretty quickly. it's just…” 

Hunk trailed off; He hasn't realized that they had begun walking until they were both outside the door to Shiro’s room. Hunk was standing there, twisting his hands together and Shiro grabbed his shoulder to hopefully get him to continue. 

Hunk looked over at Shiro and sighed before continuing. 

“Lance just - he's really insecure about all this and it's made him competitive; always wants to be the best. Especially when it comes to things that he's not the best at? If that makes any sense.”

“Thank you, Hunk; for trusting me enough to tell me all this.” Shiro gave him a small smile. 

“Shiro. Please just, don't treat him any differently because of this?”

“Knowing all of this doesn't change anything. Lance is still a vital part of this team no matter what happened at the Garrison.”

Hunk looked relieved, and smiled. 

“Good! then I'll just leave you to…uhh, whatever it is you were gonna do.” Hunk clapped him on the back lightly, and turned to leave. “Oh! I almost forgot! Pidge and I wanted to throw Lance a birthday party. His birthday’s coming up soon according to Pidge’s calendar and we thought it would be nice if you could join us? We already got Allura and Coran helping us. Even Slav found him a present.”

Shiro smiled again. “I wouldn't miss it.”

“Great!”

Shiro was still smiling as he walked into his room and let the door slide shut behind him. 

 

***

 

It was hours later when Keith entered Shiro's room that evening, he was still lost in thought over his conversation with Pidge. He turned towards Shiro's bed but it took him a second to realize Shiro wasn't on the bed - he was pacing back and forth in the corner furthest from the door. Keith watched him for a few moments before he sighed and walked over; he grasped Shiro's arm to break him out of his pacing.    
  
"Who - oh. Keith, when did you get here? I didn't even hear you come in."   
  
Keith guided him back over to sit on the edge of the bed. He turned to look at Shiro; he was a mess. His hair was disheveled from having run his fingers through it, and he just looked exhausted. 

"Ok," Keith started. "What's got you pacing a hole in the floor?"   
  
"I talked to Hunk earlier…" Shiro hesitated before continued, “…about Lance." He turned towards Keith to gauge his reaction.    
  
"Ah. Well, that's actually why I wanted to talk to you as well - I was talking to Pidge and they told me about Lance’s time at the Garrison…" Keith had his head down as he trailed off and fidgeted with his hands, so Shiro reached over to grasp them both in his own. Shiro ran his fingers over the back of Keith’s knuckles which were still slightly swollen from his earlier training. 

“So I guess Pidge told you why Lance is so insecure about his age?”

“…Yeah, it uh -” Keith cleared his threat before starting again. “It really brings that whole “rivalry thing” he kept pushing with me…they also told me about his birthday.”

“Mhm, Hunk mentioned that as well.” Shiro was still rubbing his fingers over Keith’s knuckles. “Do you have any idea what we should get him as a gift?”

Keith gave Shiro a look; “Seriously? Look around us,” he paused to gesture around the room, “It's not like we can go shopping for anything out here. We can't exactly run to the nearest mall to grab something.”

Shiro looked to be deep in thought again. He licked his lips before he looked back over at their entwined hands. 

He sighed, better to get it all out in the open.  _ Do it quick _ , he thought,  _ just like ripping off a bandaid _ . “Maybe - maybe, it’s time we finally sat him down to talk about our feelings.”

Keith whipped his head up to look Shiro in the eye. “You're serious? Why - why would you think  _ now _ is a good time to tell him?”

“It's never going to be a  _ good _ time to tell him, but it's also not fair to Lance or ourselves to keep these feelings to ourselves; especially when there's a chance that they could be reciprocated on all sides.” 

“…I guess you're right…” Keith chuckled as Shiro nuzzled into the side of his neck and pulled him back to lay onto the bed with him. 

“Shiroooooo! Come on - no! Stop! Ugh, you're all sweaty. You need to shower!”

“Mmmm…maybe later.” He pulled Keith closer to him so that they were spooning - with Keith being the little spoon. Keith sighed as he went lax in Shiro's arms. 

“Okay, but only for a few minutes.”

 

***

 

Lance was curled up in his own room, Altean book resting on the bed next to him, as he watched Hunk and Pidge bicker. It was nice, and honestly Lance was never more comfortable when it was just the three of them. He was always so nervous around Allura and Coran, not because they were intimidating, but because he really hated letting anyone down and it seemed to him that he did so all the time. Shiro and Keith, however, made him nervous on a completely different level. He admired them both so much, and it came out in smart comments and arguments, which even Lance knew was the wrong way to get someone's attention. Every time any of them told him to do better, every time Shiro had that disappointed look or Keith made a comment, Lance felt like he was holding them back. When Allura would sigh and snap or Coran would look at him sadly, Lance just wanted to retreat, back away and let them move on without him. 

It was the same with their new language lessons. He understood why they needed to learn it, he really did, but it was just another reminder that he wasn't on the same level as everyone else. The point of it was never to learn to speak the language well - no, the point was always to read it and Lance was failing that. How was he ever going to prove that he could stand equal with Shiro and Keith, if he couldn’t even read properly? He wasn’t, and he just needed to accept that. 

“Lance?”

“Sup, Hunk?” Lance raised his head to fix his friend with a wide smile. Honestly, he wasn’t sure what he did to deserve that guy. 

Hunk glanced at Pidge, and shifted a bit on his spot on the floor. “You had that look, you okay?”

“Of course! Just … trying to remember the word.”

Pidge was frowning, and Lance hated being the one to put that frown there. “You’re thinking about them again. Stop it.” 

His smile this time was sadder. “I know, I know… but, I can’t.” 

Hunk stood and ambled over, settling down on the bed and pulling Lance close. “I know, buddy. It’s okay. We’ve got you.” Lance buried his face in Hunk’s shoulder and felt a small warmth curl against his other side. He must be looking pretty sad if Pidge was willing to join the cuddle pile. 

For several long minutes it was quiet, just them curled together, finding comfort in each other. Honestly, why couldn’t Lance have fallen for them? Hunk had never gotten tired of him, or pushed him away if he needed a hug. Hunk had never said that Lance needed to get better. Pidge had been the one to volunteer to go over words with him, missing so many nights of sleep just to make sure he was okay. Pidge had never, not even once said that Lance was a failure. So why couldn’t it have been them? Sure, Pidge was Ace and Hunk was Straight, but at least then he would have known from the start that he had no chance and wouldn’t keep deluding himself with false hope. 

He knew, he always knew he was too much for one person to handle. Had always pictured himself fit squarely between two people. Sure, a lot of people thought polyamorous relationships were wrong, or sick, but to Lance they had always seemed perfect for him. How silly for him to think there would be two people that could love him that way? Especially since he hadn’t even managed to find one? 

A sharp poke to his ribs broke him out of his thoughts. “Lance, stop it! There’s nothing wrong with you!” 

Lance honestly did not know how Pidge always managed to know when he was thinking badly about himself, but they always did.  “I know…but…”

Hunk’s arm tightened, pressing Lance closer. “Listen buddy, I get it, you can’t just turn off your brain. But, don’t believe it okay?” 

He didn’t want to, he really didn’t, and he thought he did pretty good usually, shoving those thoughts and feelings away. After all, they were fighting a war in space, something that was way more important to everyone, not just him. He was better, but this language thing, and Keith’s flat insistence that he couldn’t be as old as he really was…did not help him much. Especially since all he wanted was for Shiro to touch him like he did Keith, or for Keith to look at him the same way he looked at Shiro. 

He dropped his eyes to look at Pidge’s frowning face, pressed close before they darted up, to meet Hunk’s soft eyes. He could not keep doing this to them. They had done so much for him and he just couldn’t. So he took all those feelings, his admiration for how Keith moved, and the longing Shiro’s voice brought and shoved them down, as far as he could. 

“I’ll be okay, guys. I’ll explain to Allura about my reading problem. Maybe we can make something so that words can translate on my visor? And…I’ll work on letting go of the other thing. I promise.” He looped an arm around each of them, and closed his eyes, completely missing the slightly panicked looks Hunk and Pidge shot each other. 

 

***

 

Pidge managed to wait until Hunk and Lance went off to talk to Allura before racing through the halls. They felt just terrible. 

This is why Pidge stuck to their machines. 

They had actively encouraged Keith to be there for Lance, especially on a day that was normally so hard for him, and now, here was Lance deciding to move on.  _ Now, of all times?? Quiznak! _ While Pidge didn’t think interfering further would do anyone any good, they had seen the uncertain determination on Keith’s face, and if nothing else, he deserved a warning that it might be much harder that Pidge originally thought. 

Pidge completely bypassed Keith’s room, he was never there anyway, skipped over Lance’s room, and went straight for Shiro’s, banging on the door in a huff. “Keith!  _ Keith! _ I need to talk to you!!” They waited for a tick, pressed their ear to the door, then pulled back with a huff. “Now is not the time to try and hide! Get out here now!” 

The door whooshed open to reveal a disheveled Keith with Shiro peeking over the edge of the rumpled bed. Pidge adjusted their glasses and raised an eyebrow as Keith progressively became redder. 

“I - We - ?!!”

“Really? You know what? I honestly don't care right now. Actually - this works out better; I wanted to talk to the both of you anyway.” They pushed their way into Shiro's room and waited until they were both settled next to each other before they started. “Alright, Look. Here's the deal - as I’m sure you've both noticed,  _ I hope so at least, _ ” Pidge mumbled under their breath, “Lance has been a little depressed ever since that training exercise with Coran. Now, I talked to Keith earlier and I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that he told you, Shiro?”

Shiro fidgeted a little before he mumbled, “Yes, that would be a correct assumption.”

Pidge nodded and continued, “Good. Now, for the sake of everyone on this ship - even though Lance is going to murder me for interfering, but the unresolved sexual tension between the three of you’s is, quite frankly, killing us all.” 

“Unresolved - !”

They turned to face Keith as if they hadn't been interrupted. “What we talked about earlier? Yes? Well, as I was saying; the sexual tension is so thick that you could cut it with a knife. You - the both of you - need to fix it because Lance is  _ this close  _ to just figuratively throwing in the towel and calling it quits.”

The look of shock and disappointment on both Keith and Shiro's faces was worth the trip to Shiro's room.  _ Maybe there was hope for them all yet. _ Pidge stood and brushed off their shorts and walked towards the door. “Oh? and guys - I was never here alright? No one, and I mean no one is to know that I was here. Got it? Good. Alright, goodnight.”

 

***

 

Lance dejectedly scuffed his shoes against the floor as he ambled down the hall, lost in thought. 

He had told Allura that he was likely never going to be able to read her language; it was both freeing and exhausting. He knew that she was looking forward to more people knowing Altean, but it was also nice for her to listen to him and eventually come to the understanding as to why it was that he was unable to do it; It helped that he promised to keep learning how to speak it. 

Whenever possible, Lance had stuck to Pidge and Hunk, helping them with projects; their main project currently being the translator for his visor. He kept to business talk with Shiro and Keith, swallowing the challenges and mindless pick up lines he would normally throw out and keeping things short and to the point. He didn’t really like it, but it was what he needed to do. 

He also did an excellent job of ignoring Pidge after those conversations because they obviously disapproved, instead sticking closer to Hunk, who also disapproved but was much nicer about it. For some reason, Lance had been banned from the main common room for almost two weeks now, and despite all his tricks, and bribing of the mice, he still had no idea why - all Allura and Coran would tell him is that they were working on a delicate project. 

It was as he rounded the corner of the main hallway that he ran into Coran. 

“Oh! There you are, my boy! I was looking all over for you!”

“Coran! Have you seen Hunk?”

“Nope.”

“Pidge?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Shiro?”

Coran twirled his moustache, “Negatory!”

“I'm guessing you haven't seen Keith either?” Lance sighed. 

“That would be a negative! Hmm - Oh! I do have something to show you though.”

Lance perked up as Coran led him down towards the main common room. they stopped in front of the doors as Coran patted him on the shoulder and nudged him toward the door. 

He turned towards Coran, “Ah! You and Allura are finally finished that project you've been working on?”

“Hmm. Something like that.”

The door whooshed open as they moved towards it. Lance was in the process of opening his mouth to ask Coran another question when the doors opened and he heard Slav talking. 

"Well, technically speaking there's a 99.99999 percent chance of a relationship between the three of you's working out in this reality, but in other realities there's only -"   
  
"Alright! That's enough!" Shiro spun around to face Slav. "Who even invited you?!"   
  
"Oh." Slav wilted further down into the cushions   
  
Keith put his hand on Shiro's shoulder.    
  
Shiro took a deep breath and turned to where Slav was shaking on the couch. "I'm sorry, but that wasn't your place to say anything; that was for Keith, Lance and I to talk about in private."   
  
"Yes, well. My apologies paladins. Ah! Lance! We've been waiting for you!”

Keith and Shiro paled as they turned to face Lance and Coran while everyone else just smiled and snickered. 

Lance squeaked, “What was all that about a relationship?”

Shiro tried to smile and muttered weakly, “surprise.”

“Why don't we let these three talk amongst themselves and we'll all come back in a tick?” Coran clapped his hands before shooting everyone out through the doors. 

Hunk smiled and gave Lance a thumbs up as he passed; Lance could've swore he heard Pidge saying that Coran owed them 20 GAC and to pay up. 

The door shut leaving only Keith, Shiro and Lance in the room. 

Shiro cleared his throat but Lance started to talk first. 

“Lance -”

“So, is all this for me?” He gestured to the brightly decorated room. 

“Yeah,” Keith spoke up. “about what Slav just said -”

But Lance lunged forward, wrapping one arm around Keith’s shoulders and the other around Shiro’s. He hugged, as tightly as he was able, forgetting for a tick, that he was keeping his distance, forgetting Slav’s words, forgetting everything but the fact that these two had come to a party that was just for him. He didn’t notice Keith going stiff in shock, or the tenseness in Shiro’s shoulders. He was honestly too happy. 

“Thank you, oh thank you so much! I didn’t even realize it was close to my birthday and for you guys to…” Abruptly, Lance froze and jerked backward with impressive speed. He ended up near a little table, that had a couple of colorful packages. “Ohmgosh...oh quiznak! I’m so sorry, I was just really excited and I honestly just wanted to thank you, but I was really happy and I forgot and it will never happen again, and I honestly didn’t mean it…” Lance wasn’t even sure what he was saying anymore, rambling and babbling apologies without even taking proper breaths in between. 

“What do you mean it won't happen again?” Shiro questioned. “Maybe we want it to happen again.”

“What - What do you mean?” Lance looked between the two of them; Keith and Shiro hadn't moved since Lance had backed out of their hug. 

“What Shiro means is - ,” Keith took a deep breath before he started over. “You heard what Slav said about the three of us, right?”

“I mean - Why? Why would you want to jeopardize what you two already have with each other by adding in a third wheel?”

Shiro moved toward Lance, “Don't you  _ dare  _ ever think you're a third wheel. Why would even think that? You're an incredibly important part of this team; an integral part of Voltron.”

Keith and Shiro looked at Lance while he seemed to shrink in on himself. 

“You seriously think I’m  _ that _ important to the team? All I've been doing is dragging everyone down in our Altean lessons; I'm nowhere near as smart as Pidge or Hunk or Keith or you…” Lance trailed off, afraid to look either of them in the eye. 

“Hey.” 

Lance raised his head to look at Keith.

“Do you honestly think it matters to us that you can't read Altean? And what does any of that matter anyway? We both like you for you - not for how well you read or speak Altean or what classes you had to take at the Garrison -”

“Wait! What? Who told you about my classes at the Garrison?!” Lance whipped his head back and forth between the two. 

At least Shiro and Keith had the decency to look sheepish before they answered at the same time. 

“Hunk.”

“Pidge.”

Lance walked back over to the couches and plopped down with his head in his hands. “Quiznak! You must really think I'm an idiot now.”

Shiro and Keith sat down on the couch, flanking Lance on both sides. 

Shiro grabbed Lance’s hand in his. “Didn't you just hear what we just said about not caring about any of that? We like you for you.” Shiro's other hand moved up towards Lance’s chin; his hand caressed the side of Lance’s face before he moved closer. Lance’s eyes were wide as Shiro closed what little distance was between and placing a chaste kiss on his lips. 

“Oh my god!” Lance fell back against the cushions as Keith spoke up. 

“Hey! No fair; it's my turn now.”

He didn't have any time to process hearing Keith before he was kissing him as well; albeit a little more aggressively than Shiro's kiss. 

Keith leaned back and smirked. “Now do you understand how we feel about you?”

Lance was dumbstruck; all he could do was nod his head. He licked his lips and looked between the both of them. “Think we can do that again?”

Shiro laughed. “Yeah, Lance; as much as you want.”

The door whooshed open as Shiro and Lance leaned in closer. 

“Aha! I knew it!”

“Pidge!” Keith yelled as they all leapt apart. 

Hunk rubbed the back of his neck as he walked in the door followed by Allura, Coran, and Slav. “Sorry about that. I tried to keep them all out for as long as possible but you know how impatient Pidge gets.”

Allura clapped her hands, “Alright, paladins! Now that that's all settled, let's get this party underway!”

 

***

 

Honestly, the party had been fun. Allura had boasted, especially to Pidge about being the one to actually win the bet; Hunk had spent almost thirty full ticks hugging Lance, and Coran had pulled both Shiro and Keith aside and whispered something that made them both look incredibly nervous. Lance didn’t care; it was honestly the best birthday of his life. True he wasn’t around his family, but this new Space Family was nothing to scoff at. 

 

***

 

Long after the party was over, and Lance was supposed to meet Keith and Shiro for apparently a long overdue talk, even if Lance had many, many plans to interrupt that talk with more kisses, he had just one thing he needed to do first. 

When Lance found the one he was looking for, curled up on a table, he darted across the room and scooped Slav into a hug. He spun the little creature twice to the left, one to the right and then stayed completely still, before putting him back on the table. No matter how annoying Slav could be, Lance owed him. He owed him so much, because he was convinced that Slav’s little comment was the main reason he was gifted with the chance to be with Shiro and Keith. 

That was why, when he hugged him, Lance had followed a very specific set of movements. He vaguely remembered Slav telling them all exactly the way he could be hugged to insure a good future in this reality. At the time, no one had been willing to oblige, but Lance tucked the information away, just in case. 

“Thank you. Thank you so much.” 


End file.
